Fire officials were called to the scene of a barn fire shortly after 7 a.m. at 155 Jaffrey Road.

The barn has been owned by the same family since 1791.

"Our neighbor knocked on the door around 7. They were yelling. We looked out the window and saw the barn fully engulfed," said Andrew Morrison, owner of the barn.

Morrison said flames were shooting into the sky, and neighbors could see the fire miles away.

"About 2 miles up the road, and all I could see and smell was smoke," said neighbor Jason Coll.

Between the smoke and the flames, there was little Morrison could do. "I couldn’t even get within 30 feet of the barn. It went up very quickly," said Morrison.

The fire started at two alarms and shortly after, officials raised it to a four-alarm fire. Several surrounding fire departments were called for assistance.

"We went to five alarms. We have four alarms here and one alarm to cover back in the town," said Peterborough Fire Chief Joseph Lenox III.

More than 80 firefighters backed each other as they fought the flames. Fire crews said one problem they faced was the lack of fire hydrants. They had to tap into a water source on the property and had to use tanker trucks to transport water from a nearby pond.

By the time the flames were out and the smoke cleared, the damage was worse than they thought, Morrison said.

"It's a very sad loss," said Morrison.

Inside the barn were chickens and hay. Morrison said they were lost in the fire as well as generations of memories.

"I can't tell you how many generations of Morrisons have been using the barn," Morrison said.

In the 1980s, an episode of the TV drama, "St. Elsewhere," was filmed on the property.

Morrison said he wants to investigate the full extent of the damage before making his next move.

A maid who cleaned the home of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez has testified at his murder trial that she saw him "messing with" the security camera in his basement the day after the killing.